Inferno

"In the heart of Italy, Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon is drawn into a harrowing world centered on one of history's most enduring and mysterious literary masterpieces: Dante's Inferno. Against this backdrop, Langdon battles a chilling adversary and grapples with an ingenious riddle that pulls him into a landscape of classic art, secret passageways, and futuristic science" --Vendor summary.

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Spoiler warning: the reduction caused by the virus means that instead of doubling the population (arbitrary numbers) in 30 years it will take 40 years. I would render 50% of females or 90% of males infertile with the virus non effective in 20-40 years.

Dan Brown's Robert Langdon series are all pretty much the same - lots of history and architecture, some symbolism, some literature, a touch of art, and pretty much the same storyline over and over. This audiobook version is well-done, great voice acting by narrator Paul Michael makes up for what the book lacks in story, originality, and quite frankly, writing. I thoroughly enjoyed it - regardless of all the ridiculous plot devices and dialogue.

kmcinto
May 28, 2014

One story that needed a map like Dan did for Angels & Demons. Tries making up for it with tons of descriptive details about the history and architecture of buildings for people like myself who have never been to Italy. One thing that was a bit annoying was the retelling of the video on the red flash drive. Each time the reader being less impressed with the contents of it than the last. Even the ending has a casual tone... "whatever life goes on". For readers, it moderate and won't bore you, but not as good as the other Robert Langdon tales.

Dan Brown's latest foray into art, history, and an action adventure scavenger hunt takes the reader to Florence and Instanbul. The search for a threat to mankind leads the reader through Dante's vision of hell mixed with modern virology. The threat is not what you think...

Those readers familiar with Dan Brown's earlier Robert Langdon books will find a similar treatment of Renaissance art works of Florence, Italy. this novel is based on Dante
Alighieri's "Inferno" and the descent into hell, and ascent in purgatory.

Unfortunately, Brown's creativity is low in this volume, and he telegraph's every plot twist. You can just feel them coming. Altogether, I found the book very unsatisfying. It does fill up hours on the road, however.

For the reader of action-adventure mystery novels, this is one of the best from Dan Brown. I'd rate it just behind Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" (2003), and well ahead of his prior Robert Langdon as protagonist mystery, "The Lost Symbol" (2009). For those who usually shy away from fiction novels due to the insipid plot themes commonly found there, "Inferno", with its artistic, intellectual, and scientific plot ideas, and difficult to resolve moral ambiguities, provides an opportunity to wade in. Brown doesn't deviate from his proven formula. Contemporary sub-plots occurring in parallel, short, alternating chapters, and lots of twists and cliff hangers. He starts off with a dose of bio-terrorism, adds incontrovertible mathematics, throws in a "Borne Identity" derived high-tech gadget, and even a minor character seemingly derived from the "Girl With the Dragon Tatoo". Florence Italy's mappa della città is the primary setting, highlighting the famous city's public art, some of which contains cryptography needing to be deciphered. And finally, from the 14th century, excerpts from Dante's bizarre-to-the-modern-world "Devine Comedy" provide highly-prized clues. This audio book is close to perfectly narrated, and I rate it "highly recommended". -------- Note: For those unfamiliar with the history of medieval Italy and its art, for maximum enjoyment, consider to listen to the following audio books prior to Dan Brown's "Inferno". Both are available from this library. * The 3 CD audio book by Greg Kelly "Dante: Poet of the impossible" * Benedict Flynn's English translation of Dante Alighieri's "Devine Comedy", at least the first section, titled, as might be expected, "Inferno".

MRJ1234
Jul 08, 2013

Typical Dan Brown formula book. Get a pretty girl, a daring professor and hidden signs and hang on. Getting old and tiresome.